Australian police to monitor far-right group’s meeting against African gangs

CANBERRA: Australian police have said they will monitor a meeting of a far-right group who has threatened to “take a stand on the streets” in response to Melbourne’s African ‘gang crisis’, China’s Xinhua news agency reported.

Members of the nationalist True Blue Crew will meet in Melbourne’s south-east today to discuss possible action, according to posts on their public social media pages.

Police have said they will monitor the meeting but the group is keeping the location secret and will check the identification of attendees at the door.

The first part of the meeting will address the “lack of action by the courts,” the group wrote on social media on Friday night.

“The 2nd part (of the meeting) is for those ready to take a stand on the streets, this part of the meeting isn’t for the PC (politically correct) so keep that in mind.”

The African gang issue has received national media attention ever since Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton attacked Victorian Premier over ‘weak’ bail laws that allowed serial re-offenders back on the streets within days of being arrested.

Victoria Police has responded by establishing an AfricanAustralian community taskforce to combat youth crime.

Despite establishing the taskforce Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton dismissed the suggestion that there was a gang crisis as “complete and utter garbage.”

A spokesperson for Victoria Police said they were aware of the True Blue Crew meeting and planned to attend.

“As ever, we respect the rights of people to meet and air their views on political matters. We will not tolerate however any resulting acts of violence or antisocial behaviour,” they said. — Bernama